Re: Looking for clock parts

Christopher Tidy wrote:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm afraid I'm way too much of a purist
to replace it with a quartz mechanism. I like the smell, the tick and
the chime. The spring is indeed broken close to the end, so if I can't
find a replacement I'll reuse it. The drum is more of a problem. Here's
a picture:

http://www.mythic-beasts.com/~cdt22/clock_spring_drum.jpg

It measures 53 mm in diameter (including the teeth), is 23 mm deep and
has 80 teeth. You can see the two broken teeth in the picture.

I'll call and e-mail a few clockmakers and see if I can locate a
replacement. If not, I had wondered about some way of grafting new teeth
onto the drum, but I don't have enough equipment to do that at the
moment. I have the broken teeth and had wondered if there was a suitable
means for re-attaching them, but right now I can't think of anything.
Any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

Chris

What equipment DO you have. In times not far gone a job like that one
would be tackled with a set of files to cut the teeth, an alcohol flame
and a blowpipe to do the soldering in of the new section on wich the
teeth were to be cut. Files would be adequate to fit the section of
blank brass *** to the barrel.

You have a near or less than zero chnace of getting the old teeth to
fit back in and be useful.

A trip to the library is in order. Most beginner clock repair books
will cover the details of a job like this, with pictures.

Some equipment will make the job easier, like a lathe. With a little
thought, and some labour, you can set yourself up to cut serviceable
teeth with a flycutter and using the other good teeth on the barrel as a
reference for indexing. With a lot of thought and sense of adventure,
it could be done with a drill press.

Cheers
Trevor Jones
.